Behind the Masks
by xXxBlessxThexFallxXx
Summary: A tale of an unlikely love between a kind hearted Priestess and the leader of a band of seven cold blooded killers, and her blooming friendship with the killers he Remember, sometimes what you see isn't always what you get.
1. Cellar Door

Disclaimer: As I state in all my stories, this applies for the rest of the story that you are about to partake in. I am not Rumiko Takahashi; therefore I do not own Inuyasha. I simply use them in stories for my amusement, and the amusement of you readers.

"_I lost control. You're face is pale. Your body's cold…_

_~Escape the Fate~_

Cellar Door

Feudal Japan was a beautiful era. Especially during the spring, Sakura trees were in full bloom and satiny petals gracefully danced in the wind and gently eased onto the lush green grass below. It was a time of great beauty and passion, but it was also a time full of war.

Demons prowled the area in search of their next meal. They cared not whether it was boar, deer, or even a defenseless human. Yes, even with their weapons, practically every human was defenseless against most demons. Not all demons harmed humans though. Some demons even fell in love with a human, and vice versa.

Beings could come back to life with black magic, and they would still talk and act like themselves. They would still eat human food. The original dead called from there graves were not the flesh-eaters from American tales, but from the reality of Feudal Japan.

This time is where our story will take place; we start with a battle between a few demon carnations of an evil Hanyou and a group of mismatched people who are trying to rid the world of the evil Hanyou. A demon slayer, a monk, a two tailed fire cat demon, a kitsune, an Inu Hanyou, and a priestess from the future. Mismatched would definitely be an understatement. Let's continue with the story, shall we?

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"Inuyasha, behind you!" a young girl with black matted hair and a tarnished bloody school uniform on cried out in warning to a silver haired Hanyou with dog ears and honey golden eyes.

Aforementioned Hanyou, Inuyasha, barely escaped an attack aimed in his direction that he hadn't seen coming. Where he once was, there was now a crater. He silently thanked the girl for her aid, not aloud of course. That was something he rarely did, and even if he had wanted to, there was no time. Everyone was tiring from this monotonous battle, and he had to end it quickly. Though, to be truthful, he had thought that same thing nearly two hours ago and here they still were.

The young priestess was out of arrows, had been for the longest time now. Strangely enough, nothing and no one had even spared her a glance, save for her comrades. Because of her luck, she held a kitsune with orange hair and emerald eyes in her arms to protect him. He was still a pup and was not strong enough to participate in actual battles yet.

_'I hear something.'_ Inuyasha thought, amazed that he could hear anything over the battle cries and weapons clashing. It sounded like an avalanche in a way, though he knew that wasn't what it was because it was nearing the end of spring which meant there was no snow up in the mountains that would even reach down where they were fighting.

Everyone's attention was drawn when the young priestess gave a bloodcurdling scream. It seemed her luck had finally worn out. One of the enemies had noticed that she was defenseless. He had taken the risk of going near her, not knowing if she was fully trained and in control of her powers. It had been assumed by the rest of the enemies that the girl was simply waiting until her powers were needed for healing instead of destruction, but knew that she would use her holy powers against them to destroy them if they attacked. They had obviously been wrong.

"Kagome!" the Inu Hanyou cried in despair as he saw even more blood blossom and stain her clothing. The demon had shoved his entire hand straight through her stomach. That was his second mistake. His first mistake was making the decision to hurt Kagome, and now he would pay for his actions.

Inuyasha saw red. All he wanted to do at that moment was kill the sorry bastard and every single being, demon, Hanyou, and human, that was with him. And that is exactly what the Inu Hanyou did until his bloodlust was satisfied. He looked at all the dead bodies around him and his companions without a care. Inuyasha then looked upon Kagome's form, she was barely breathing. Barely, but she still was.

"Inuyasha, we need to get Lady Kagome to the nearest village and ask their priestess for assistance." A monk with black hair and blue eyes advised gravely while also looking upon the body of the young priestess.

"What are you waiting for Inuyasha, an invitation? Go get her already! We can't have her die on us!" a demon slayer cried in anguish as she watched the two men just stare at the priestess whom was as dear to her as if she were her sister.

The kitsune was lost in a world of sorrow, just curled up into a ball against Kagome as she bled out from her wound. Her eyes were open and glassy. She stared at everything, but she saw nothing.

Inuyasha walked over to her and picked her up bridal style, telling the monk and demon slayer to retrieve the kitsune, which they did quickly. It was a sad scene. No one thought the priestess would actually live, but they knew that they should at least try. Knowing that, the Inu Hanyou sprinted to the nearest village with the girl.

Upon his arrival, there were a lot of stares as Inuyasha asked where their priestess was. "Why?" they would ask in suspicion. How could they not tell why though? He was holding a dying girl in his arms. Kagome was dying, and all they could do was question why he needed a priestess?

Commotion was heard and out stepped an elderly woman in priestess garb. Her hair was gray and held back in a ponytail. She had kind but fierce green eyes that widened when she saw the profusely bleeding girl in the Inu Hanyou's arms. She ushered him into a hut without any questions asked. She knew what was wanted. No, what was needed.

"Tell me," the elderly priestess started after cleaning Kagome's wound, "How did she come to have such a wound as this?"

Inuyasha looked away in shame as he told the story. He never should have left her alone. He should have been keeping an eye on her the entire time. He blamed himself, though in reality it was not his fault. The elderly priestess could see that, and told him herself that it was not his fault.

"What is your name young man?" the woman inquired as she put herbs to help the wound heal faster onto Kagome's wound.

"Inuyasha. What's yours?" Inuyasha answered quietly, too worried to be rude like he normally would.

"Tsuyomi." The elderly priestess, Tsuyomi, answered simply. She then looked up at the Inu Hanyou with a smile gracing her features and said, "This young woman will be fine, she just needs a month or so to heal."

Now that he knew that she was definitely going to be ok he was relieved, but a month was way too long to just be sitting there. He asked if there was a possibility Kagome would be healed before then, but the old priestess informed him that a month was the quickest he could hope for, it could take longer.

"I don't think you understand; we can't wait a month. We don't have the time; we have an evil Hanyou to kill!" Inuyasha finally lost his cool and yelled at Tsuyomi.

"Your goals will not make her heal quicker Inuyasha. Please, calm down and let the girl sleep without being interrupted. She will need it." Tsuyomi calmly responded to the Inu Hanyou's outburst.

Inuyasha left the hut, and as he exited he noticed that the others hadn't shown up yet. As quickly as possible, he back tracked his journey and came across his comrades battling against a man that was mostly a war machine. _'That noise from earlier!'_ realized Inuyasha as he joined in on the battle.

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Back in the hut Kagome was healing, the girl was starting to wake up. She felt around trying to find her little Kitsune, but was failing. She stretched out her senses to try to find his aura, but none of her friends were nearby. She bolted upright in a panic and cried out in pain from her wound.

"Child, you need to rest and let your body heal. There's no need to be so rushed." The elderly priestess soothed the younger priestess.

"But Inuyasha-"Kagome was cut off by Tsuyomi.

"Inuyasha left the room so you could heal in peace. I know not where he is now, but I can assure you that he will be fine."

"What about the others. What about Shippou, Sango, Kirara, and Miroku?" Kagome pressed with worry evident in her voice.

"There were no others with him my dear."

_'Oh no…'_ Kagome thought and then decided that she would go find them, no matter what the elder Priestess said. _'This is going to be hard though. I don't exactly want to argue with her.'_ Just as Kagome was about to tell the priestess that she was leaving, and not to try to stop her, the priestess quietly left to go get water for tea. _'Perfect.'_ Kagome thought with a small smile.

The young priestess stood up, quickly but carefully, and noticed that a white Kimono with Sakura petals embroided going down the right arm was set out for her to wear, along with a pink obi that matched the color of the Sakura petals. It was very thoughtful, and suddenly she felt guilty for leaving when the old woman obviously wanted her to stay and rest.

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A few yards away from where the battle was taking place, sat a young mercenary with long black hair, tied into a braid, sapphire eyes, lavender four pointed star mark on his forehead and a halberd that was bigger than his body propped up on his shoulder. He heard the battle noises in the distance, and he knew what it was. _'Sounds like Ginkotsu is having a bit of fun.'_ The mercenary thought with a smirk and headed in the direction of his "brother."

If he was lucky then Ginkotsu may have even found Inuyasha, and he had been pretty lucky as of late. What else would a person call being brought back from the dead with all your "brothers", able to roam the countryside freely killing anything and anyone once again? The mercenary thought that was pretty damn lucky.

The young man chuckled darkly at his thoughts, and finally came across the battle. He could see an Inu Hanyou dressed in plain red Hakamas and Haori wielding what looked to be a giant dog fang turned into a sword. He was attacking Ginkotsu, but Ginkotsu seemed to be holding up pretty well, so the young mercenary decided to just observe until he deemed Ginkotsu in need of help.

Accompanying the Hanyou was a demon slayer riding on the back of a yellow and black two tailed cat demon with what appeared as a Kitsune pup. She had her brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail and was wearing the standard slayer outfit in black and pink. Her weapons of choice seemed to be a katana, which she had hanging from her waist, and a Hiraikotsu which was flying through the air towards Ginkotsu. The giant war machine barely avoided the attack, and the black haired mercenary was glad.

The last member, the mercenary noted, was a monk wearing dark blue and purple robes and wielding a golden holy staff. The monk had prayer beads around his right hand and the mercenary could tell that he was seriously considering using his sutras. It wouldn't do him any good though, considering that Ginkotsu was human, though he didn't look it. _'The monk apparently noticed that himself. He put them away.'_ The black haired mercenary thought with amusement.

He thought that this group of fighters may have been the Inutachi that the infernal Hanyou who brought his brothers and him back to life had told him about, but the priestess said to be dressed in odd clothing was not present. The young mercenary didn't like to believe in coincidences, so instead of just leaving Ginkotsu to his own devices, he decided to help Ginkotsu win this battle. The priestess obviously wasn't present, but that could easily be explained, and this battle would be a lot easier without her directing her precious Inu Hanyou's attacks to the Jewel Shards implanted in both his and Ginkotsu's bodies.

"Ginkotsu, leave the Hanyou to me! Take out the others!" the young mercenary called with a wicked smile, finally drawing attention to himself.

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Kagome had made up her mind to leave, but decided to tell the elderly priestess first. She couldn't justify leaving without a word after the kindness the woman had shown towards her. Just as she was about to leave the hut to go find the woman, the woman had came to her. As soon as Tsuyomi saw that Kagome was up and moving, she opened her mouth to scold her, but the younger priestess cut her off saying, "I'm very grateful for your hospitality and kindness, and I know you want me to stay here to finish healing, but my friends need me. I just know something bad is happening. I'm sorry but I must leave."

Tsuyomi closed her mouth and then gently smiled and nodded in understanding. As Kagome left, the elderly priestess stopped hr and said, "You may want to change first. When you are done with your battle, you and your friends may come back here and rest."

The young priestess smiled and said her thanks. As quickly as possible she changed into the beautiful outfit left for her, and then remembered she had no arrows left. She turned to Tsuyomi and asked, "Where can I get arrows around here?"

Tsuyomi chuckled and just handed her a quiver full of arrows and waved her off saying, "Go get your friends."

Kagome left then, with one last thanks, and walked in the direction that she could feel her friends' auras. Her eyes widened in alarm when she realized that before there had only been one enemy aura, and now there were two. With that, she ran to find her friends and give them any aid she could.

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The battle was taking its toll on the Inutachi, especially since they had been in a battle just before this. Sango threw her Hiraikotsu at Ginkotsu's head while he was distracted by Miroku, and the other Mercenary's back was turned so he couldn't warn the war machine.

Kagome found them just in time to see Ginkotsu's head detach from his body and fall at her feet, his last wdrd uttered being the name of his companion, "Bankotsu." She shrieked on instinct and then quickly shut her mouth. That moment could have been Inuyasha's downfall had the black haired mercenary not been curious enough to turn and look as well.

There he saw a woman, about his age, with long black tresses and warm brown eyes. She was wearing a white kimono with no pattern, save for the Sakura petals that were embroided onto the right arm; they appeared as if they were falling and encircling her arm. Around her slim waist was an obi, the same color of pink as the Sakura petals. The girl had a bow and a quiver of arrows with her, and she was barefoot. He noted all this with one glance, and quickly sent an attack from his halberd at the girl.

From that one glance, he knew it was the priestess that damnable Hanyou had told him about, though he was mistaken about the odd clothing. Since he knew it was the priestess, he knew that the Inu Hanyou would immediately leave the battle to go save the woman's life. _'Pathetic,'_ the young mercenary thought when he was proven right. The Hanyou did in fact rush towards the woman, screaming her name.

_'Kagome, I'll have to remember that.'_ The black haired teen thought as he quickly ran to Ginkotsu's body, removed the jewel shard, and left. Inuyasha had gotten in a pretty good hit, and the mercenary was bleeding heavily from it. He knew he wouldn't die right away from it, he just needed rest, but in order for that to happen he had to leave the fight.

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The futuristic priestess had been rescued in time to not receive a fatal blow, but she was still injured. How much injured, Inuyasha had no clue. He did know that she shouldn't have come in her condition. She was still in the process of healing, and the Inu Hanyou was not stupid enough to insist she get up and move, let alone participate in a battle, so soon after being hurt as bad as she had been. _'And now it's going to take even longer to heal because she just wouldn't stay put.'_ Inuyasha thought with exasperation.

Still, looking down at her limp form in his arms, he couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. Maybe when she was awake and better he could, but not now. Not when she looked so fragile and just utterly breakable. Even now the Hanyou worried about carrying her because of how delicate she seemed. He was almost afraid she would break at any moment just from the jerking movements of the walk. Seeing her in such a state was heartbreaking.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was only minutes, the Inutachi reached a village, the same village that Kagome and Inuyasha were at before. Out walked Tsuyomi, as if she had expected them, and, indeed, maybe she had. The elder priestess had a deep frown on her face as she looked to the young girl who had, yet again, been injured in battle.

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"Lay her down here Inuyasha." The elderly priestess requested after proper introduction had been given.

Inuyasha did as he we was told and, reluctantly, let go of Kagome. The males all left, with the exception of Shippou, as Tsuyomi began undressing the girl to get to her old wound, that had been reopened, and her new wounds. _'This girl is going to get herself killed one of these days with that hard head of hers.'_ The priestess thought with a mixture of irritation and amusement. Honestly, she respected the girl for her courage and selflessness. Kagome had known that she would probably end up opening her wound again, getting new ones, and possibly die, yet she still risked it to help her friends.

Tsuyomi had finally finished cleaning and redressing the wounds of the young priestess. Only then, did she allow Miroku and Inuyasha to re-enter the hut. They both had a look of relief on their faces as they saw Kagome safe and breathing.

"Old woman, we need to leave as soon as possible. Naraku could be doing anything without us there to stop him and collect the remaining shards!" the Inu Hanyou went off now that he knew Kagome would be okay.

"I-Inuyasha," the young priestess started with a weak smile, "Go on without me. I can join up with you later, when I'm fully healed. I don't want to slow down the search anymore than you do, so just go. I'll be fine."

"But mama-"Shippou started, but was cut off by Inuyasha.

"Kagome, we need you to track and purify the jewel shards. We can't leave without you." Inuyasha declared firmly.

Kagome smiled and with sad eyes replied, "I'm not the only one who can track and purify the jewel Inuyasha…"

There was utter silence around the Inutachi as everyone understood her suggestion. Sango didn't like it at all, but knew Kagome would insist. Miroku was uneasy about such a thing, but knew it would be for the best. Inuyasha was torn. He wanted to keep Kagome with him, but he wanted to defeat Naraku to avenge his past love, Kikyou's, death, and traveling with Kikyou would be best. Kagome could heal and the fight would go on. Shippou on the other hand straight out refused to travel with the group if Kagome wasn't with them.

"We can keep him here with us child." Tsuyomi suggested with a kind smile.

The young priestess nodded her assent and with that, the Inutachi left, minus two members, on the search for Kikyou.

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A month had come and gone, and Kagome was almost completely healed up. Shippou was out gathering herbs and such for Tsuyomi the rest of the day, so Kagome decided to take a walk through the surrounding forest. It was a beautiful day, and it had been too long since she had gone outside. She was restless.

It was striking; the trees were a healthy green that she never saw in her time because the air was too polluted for the trees to be so healthy. The flowers were exotic colors, dotting the lush grass every now and then.

Kagome thought she had seen a clearing up ahead, and she was correct. It would have been just as gorgeous as the rest of the forest if that was what her attention had landed on. As of now, they were directed at the bloody and beaten body of the man the Inutachi had fought a month ago.

"B-Bankotsu…" Kagome managed to choke out.

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I know I'm going out of order, but that's okay because BanKag is bad ass. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I don't know if I should keep going, I need your opinions on this.

I know that I probably shouldn't be starting this story because I still have to finish "The Trouble with Haruno" but I couldn't help it… this idea just kept harping on me.

Review Please ^-^


	2. There's No Sympathy for the Dead

Inu-baby123: Glad you like the story ^-^

Kagome Lady of Darkness: Thank you very much, and I love this pairing as well. It's my second favorite and I had to write a story about them because of how few I have found. I think I'll pair her with Jakotsu in my next story though. Just because it's different and there are literally like maybe 2 or 3 stories with those two together.

Momo: Heh, it's my second favorite pairing. Nice to see my readers can recognize a cliffy without me having to point it out ^-^ Thank you for your review and here is the update.

xXBlackxxStarXx: Lolz I agree, BanKag is sexy. Here's the update and thank you for your review

Nosuka chan: I noticed that a long time ago lolz Anywhoo, thank you for your enthusiasm and your review ^-^

AnimeAmore: Thank you very much ^-^ and here is the update

_"The sky is opened up, so don't get swallowed by the flames."_

_~Escape the Fate~_

There's No Sypmathy for the Dead

_**"B-Bankotsu…" Kagome managed to choke out.**_

_'Maybe I should just leave before he wakes up.'_ Kagome thought as she started to back up slowly, until a crimson liquid surrounding the young mercenary leader's form caught her eye. She was confused to begin with, and then her eyes widened as she realized he was badly hurt. _'Damn… I can't just leave now.'_ The priestess sighed in defeat.

If it had only been Naraku there, bleeding and on the brink of death, she would have happily helped tipped him over the edge, but, alas, it wasn't. This man hadn't _really_ done anything to the group. Kagome sweat dropped at that as she thought back on the battle. _'Okay, so he has. Still, he isn't as evil as Naraku. I can feel it.'_ The priestess contemplated, and then gave in to her compassionate nature. Sometimes she hated herself.

Kagome went over and attempted to drag the mercenary, but he proved to be too difficult for her to move. _'Shit and I bet he wants to keep his damn halberd with him too.'_ Kagome glared at said article and decided that she would just carry that back to the village first, then have some village men help her carry the injured "warrior", that's what she would tell the villagers he was anyways, back to the elderly priestess there.

The young priestess sighed in defeat, once again, and reached for the halberd still held loosely in Bankotsu's hand. Right before she touched it she saw his hand tighten and a voice from right below her growl, "Touch Banryuu and that will be the last thing you ever do wench."

Startled, the priestess looked down into the eyes of a very pissed off mercenary. Ignoring his warning, she continued her ascent toward the hilt of said Banryuu.

"That's fucking it, I warned you!" Bankotsu yelled in outrage and pushed the girl off of his person, leaving her sprawling on the ground.

Kagome's temper finally getting the better of her, she stood and yelled, "What the fuck is your problem you jack ass? I was just trying to help you!"

"Help me my ass! How the fuck is trying to get Banryuu away from me trying to help me?" the mercenary bellowed, just as angry as Kagome.

"You are fucking wounded you fucking idiot! I was trying to get your weapon to the village and then get villagers to help me get you back there too!" Kagome seethed.

Nothing was said for awhile after that proclamation had been made. Bankotsu stared this woman down, glaring at her, her doing the same. He was studying her eyes for any deception, and she was waiting for any intelligence to spark into the boy's eyes. She didn't hold her breath.

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_'How can Inuyasha do that without guilt? Just because Kagome isn't here doesn't give him the right to be so faithless.'_ Sango thought with sadness as she heard the Inu Hanyou's declaration of undying devotion towards the undead priestess. _'Why did you volunteer this Kagome?'_ the slayer thought sadly. She turned her cheerless eyes on Miroku, and Miroku nodded his head in understanding. He was upset about this situation too.

"Inuyasha, shouldn't we go check up on Kagome, just to make sure she's alright." Miroku suggested hopefully.

The Hanyou heard the hopefulness in his friend's tone and was about to agree when Kikyou interrupted saying, "I sense two jewel shards coming in our direction."

With those words Inuyasha's thoughts strayed from Kagome to the oncoming battle. _'Or confrontation I guess…'_ Inuyasha thought as he saw the tornado coming towards them that indicated Kouga, the wolf demon leader that claimed Kagome as his even though she disagreed completely. As Kouga stopped right in front of the group, his long dark brown ponytail whipping around wildly and finally coming to a stop, Inuyasha sighed and demanded, "What do _you_ want you mangy wolf?"

"Keh, the real question is; where is my Kagome mutt face?" Kouga demanded in turn, his icy blue eyes scrutinizing the Inutachi.

The Inu Hanyou automatically growled, bearing his canines at the wolf, and replied, "She _ain't_ yours asshole! If she belongs to anyone it's me!" He then winced, waiting to be sat like per usual. But nothing happened.

He blinked, confused for a second and then remembered it was Kikyou with him, not Kagome. And he had just claimed Kagome as his right in front of her. _'Damn…'_ Inuyasha thought as he slowly turned around to see her reaction to his words. Strangely enough, she had no emotion whatsoever on her face. She looked just as serene and _emotionless_ as usual.

"My reincarnation is not traveling with us at the moment, as you can see. If you really want to see her, I suggest that you pick up her scent and head in that direction." The undead priestess informed the wolf prince calmly.

Kouga looked at Inuyasha quizzically, then shrugged it off and sped away with a salute to the group.

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"Look, we don't have time to stand around all day. You are injured and could die from that wound. Please Bankotsu, let me help." Kagome broke the staring contest and pleaded with the mercenary.

Said mercenary blinked and then asked, "Why would you want to help heal me? I'm your enemy you idiot."

Kagome huffed indignantly and muttered, "Because it's who I am."

Bankotsu stared at her a moment and weighed the pros and cons of allowing this. _'Pros- I wouldn't die again, this annoying pain would go away, I could get to know my enemy better, I won't have to put up with her yelling at me if I agree. Hmm, Cons? Yeah, I can't really think of any.'_ He reluctantly agreed to the strange girl's request.

"Can you walk?" Kagome asked suddenly, switching from blistering anger to concern in the blink of an eye.

The mercenary gave her an incredulous look before answering with a nod of his head. The priestess smiled and watched as he stood up. He seemed to be doing fine until he stood to his full height. Suddenly, what felt to him like electricity shot through his torso and he crumpled over in pain. Kagome ran to help, but before she could reach him he snarled, "Don't touch me girl!"

Ignoring him, yet again, she helped him stand a little. This time he hesitantly allowed it instead of reacting violently. The young mercenary was in too much pain to speak coherently let alone injure her. Kagome allowed him to lean his body on her as they both slowly made their way to the little village Kagome had been staying in for the past month.

Before fully reaching the village, Kagome set him against a tree and said, "Ill be right back, I have to check to see if my son is here or still out collecting herbs and playing around. Don't move."

If Bankotsu had been able to laugh at that moment he would have, like he would have been able to move in this condition anyways. He was surprised his body made it as far as it did without him passing out. As he watched her retreating back, he rested against the tree for a bit, closing his eyes.

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"Tsuyomi, are you here?" the young priestess called out for the elder priestess as she raced inside the hut.

"Yes child, what is your hurry?" the elder priestess inquired from her spot in front of a pot that was cooking lunch.

"Is Shippou back with you?" Kagome asked, biting her lip.

Tsuyomi laughed and answered, "No, he is out playing with some of the village children."

Kagome said her thanks and then ran back to Bankotsu. He was leaning against a tree with his eyes shut. She approached him and was about to gently shake him awake when his eyes snapped open causing her to stumble backwards with surprise and fall flat on her backside. Bankotsu couldn't help himself and started laughing. His laughter ended quickly when searing pain shot through him.

The young priestess glared daggers at the young mercenary and finally gave up. She helped him up again, and they hobbled the rest of the way to the village, him using her for support. Finally, after seemingly hours, they reached the village and Kagome brought him to the hut Tsuyomi resided in.

As soon as the elderly priestess saw the man Kagome had in tow, she hastily got herbs and bandages ready. She then sent Kagome out to fetch water and a rag so as to clean the wound of the man. Right when Kagome got back, and Tsuyomi had started the cleaning process, the young priestess was interrogated.

"What is this young man's name Kagome dear?" Tsuyomi questioned in a kind but firm tone.

"Bankotsu…" Kagome answered a little hesitantly.

Tsuyomi nodded and then inquired, "How did you come across him?"

"He seemed to have been injured from a battle of some nature. From the way he was dressed I assumed he was a warrior of a sort." Kagome answered, giving the woman a half truth.

There was silence between the two for several minutes before Tsuyomi finally said, "I will patch him up, but it's your job to care for him after that."

Kagome agreed with the elder priestess and then walked outside to think. She walked to the clearing that she had found the mercenary leader in. Unable to stop herself, she went over to the large pool of blood and just stared into its depths. She saw a crimson version of her face and realized she was crying as a clear tear dropped onto her reflection. _'What is wrong with me?'_ the priestess thought in confusion as she wiped away her stinging tears.

Having enough of looking down upon such a gruesome sight, Kagome walked across the clearing to sit with her back against a tree. She just stared up at the sky thinking about everything that had happened over the last month. Well, not everything, only the parts that really stood out. _'Today is one of those times.'_ The raven haired teen thought absentmindedly.

She knew she would never forget this day; the day she saved the life of an enemy. She almost let out a laugh of bitterness thinking on that. Inuyasha would surely kill her if he ever found out. The others wouldn't go to such extremes, but she knew that they would be severely disappointed in her. There would be so many difficulties simply because she saved this one man's life.

_'I should have just left him there' _Kagome thought. Then the guilt started eating away at her for even thinking such a horrid thing. _'No, I could never do that. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had done that.'_ At this point she decided, for the second time in the same day, that she hated herself sometimes.

The sun was shining down onto the troubled priestess, and finally the girl noticed that there was something glinting and it wasn't the blood. _'How did I not notice that when I was over there? It's huge.' _Kagome questioned herself as she saw Bankotsu's halberd lying on the blood soaked grass. _'He must have been really injured if he didn't remember Banryuu.'_ The priestess thought with worry.

Kagome stood up and, as if in a trance, walked over and picked up the halberd with one hand. She saw her reflection in crimson, yet again, because of the blood still covering the blade. She couldn't help but shudder; realizing it was probably a bad omen of things to come.

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"Oh my, that is a big weapon isn't it?" Tsuyomi commented as Kagome walked back into the little hut carrying the young mercenary leader's halberd.

Hearing that remark, Bankotsu looked up in time to see Kagome nod her head and reply, "Yeah, I'm surprised he has a fast enough reaction time to get away from most attacks when he has to lug this thing around."

The black haired teen glared at her after she spoke and was about to make a snide comeback when he had a realization. _'She's holding Banryuu without a struggle…'_ Not wanting to sound clueless, he kept his thoughts about it to himself.

"What, couldn't think of any good comebacks tough guy?" Kagome teased lightheartedly when she saw Bankotsu's mouth shut before any words had been spoken.

"You aren't worth the effort." The mercenary scoffed, looking away.

"Child, you just gave effort at a comeback; which means she was worth the effort." The elderly priestess corrected with a knowing smile.

Kagome stuck her tongue out at the mercenary, even though he couldn't see it, and then informed everyone she was going to go watch Shippou play with the village children because she couldn't bear Bankotsu's company any longer. She then exited and went to do as she had said. Bankotsu smirked as he saw her leave. He had an idea.

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"Kouga, are we glad we caught up with you!" a wolf demon in Kouga's tribe with silver and dark gray hair exclaimed as he and another demon of his tribe with silver hair up in a Mohawk stopped in front of their leader panting.

"Hey guys, what took ya so long? I'm looking for Kagome right now." Kouga answered casually, leaning against a rock that was in the center of the meadow they were currently in.

"But Kouga, Inuyasha's group is in the other direction." The multi hair colored wolf informed with a scratch of his head.

"Ginta, don't point out the obvious. You know Kouga gets mad at us for it." The demon with the Mohawk whispered in warning to his brother.

"I know they are, she isn't with them though." The wolf leader said with a grin.

Ginta and his brother gave Kouga a strange look and then Ginta whispered, "Hey Hakkaku, do you think Kouga is ok? He isn't getting mad or anything."

Before Hakkaku could reply, their leader interrupted their side conversation; giving them an explanation, "That undead priestess was traveling with them instead of Kagome. Do you know what that means?"

Both his subordinates gave him a blank stare which indicated they were both coming up with nothing. Kouga sighed in annoyance and bit out, "You two sit here and think on it. You can catch up later when you have come up with something." With that, he took off.

"Wait, Kouga!" both brothers called out to their leader and scrambled off after him.

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"Inuyasha, do you think we could go visit Lady Kagome now? Sango is most upset, and I too would like to see how she is faring. Perhaps she's well enough to travel with us again." Miroku beseeched his Hanyou friend.

Inuyasha thought on it a few moments and said, "Kagome not traveling with us is working out fine for now Miroku. You've even stopped being a pervert."

The demon slayer wanted to kill the Hanyou. Did he not realize that Miroku actually not being a pervert was a bad sign? Yes, his habits were annoying, but at least they knew he was well.

Sensing Sango's anger, Inuyasha gave in before any bodily harm could be done to him. His agreeing put the slayer at ease, but she was still irritated that he had even considered not going to check up on their _living_ priestess.

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Kagome was sitting atop a hill, watching Shippou play tag and such games with the village children who looked about his age, when she sensed a presence behind her. She turned slightly and groaned when she saw it was none other than the one she was avoiding. _'Damn him, can't he leave me in peace?'_ the priestess thought in annoyance.

"Are you incapable of leaving me alone?" Kagome muttered under her breath, but Bankotsu heard her and smirked.

Instead of saying anything he settled for slinging his arm over her shoulder in a friendly manner, just to irritate her even more. Kagome shrugged his arm off and began to walk away, but was stopped when the mercenary grabbed onto her ankle causing her to fall on her face. Seeing this, the young man laughed and choked out, "That was graceful," before laughing again.

It hurt to laugh, but he couldn't stop it. It had been a long while since he had a good laugh; years to be more precise. He had been dead for awhile after all. Laughing, even through the pain, felt alright.

"Yeah, keep laughing. I'm the one who has been assigned to take care of you buddy!" the young priestess reminded him fiercely with an unreadable look on her face. Bankotsu knew one thing about it though; it wasn't good.

Kagome walked over to get Shippou, and then left the field for some lunch; leaving Bankotsu behind in his felled state of laughter.

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"Mama, isn't that the same guy we fought with when you got hurt the second time?" the kitsune quietly asked Kagome during lunch time; eyeing their guest suspiciously.

Kagome nodded and whispered in turn, "But he is okay for now. I saved him because he was severely injured in the forest."

"Why would you do that? He is our enemy, and tried killing you." Shippou questioned, giving her a quizzical look.

Kagome sighed in defeat and said, "It's who I am. I couldn't just leave him there to die if I could save him. You should know that by now."

The kitsune pup nodded in understanding, and then left the hut to go play again. Kagome looked up at the mercenary because she had thought she heard him say something. From the look on her face he could tell that she hadn't heard him, so he repeated himself, slowly this time.

"What are you going to do when the mutt comes to get you?"

The young priestess glared at the mercenary leader and spoke, "You should be long gone by then so I won't have to worry about it."

Bankotsu raised his eyebrows at her, shrugged, and laid down for an afternoon nap. _'Haven't done this in awhile either. It's kind of nice.'_ Though he would have preferred someone less annoying and temperamental than this slip of a girl. _'At least she's pretty.' _She would do for now he supposed. Now was not the time to think upon the type of person he would rather spend his day with, though his brother Jakotsu came to mind when he did. _'That little homo.'_ Bankotsu thought with affection, _'I wonder what he's up to.'_

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Kouga had been running awhile and finally caught Kagome's scent. He also caught another scent. All he knew was that it was a male scent intermingled with a graveyard smell. He would ponder on the second one later, what mattered at the moment was that _his _Kagome was with a guy he didn't recognize. _'Don't worry, I'll save you Kagome!'_

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"Kagome, I have finished patching up your clothing. Here you go dear." Tsuyomi interrupted the young priestess' glaring at the back of the "warrior's" head.

The elder priestess chuckled as Kagome thanked her and left for the clearing to change into her school uniform. Changing actually allowed her to think. At times she hated thinking though. Her thoughts always strayed to the rest of the Inutachi. What were they doing? Did Inuyasha even miss her, or was Kikyou who he had always pretended he was traveling with? Did he even notice she was gone?

Tears started coming to her eyes. _'I shouldn't even be thinking about this.' _Her tears died down as soon as she sensed an aura behind her. Kagome quickly turned to face her supposed attacker.

"B-Bankotsu, what are you doing here?" the priestess blushed deep crimson when she looked down and realized she had yet to put her skirt on. She swiftly slipped it on and accused the mercenary of being a pervert.

"You're the one who is supposed to be caring for me, remember? As I see it, I need to stay with you at all times." Bankotsu gave her a smug look. He really did enjoy pushing her buttons.

"Kagome, back away from him!" the two heard a male voice call out with worry.

_'Well, it's not Inuyasha.'_ The young mercenary leader glimpsed the man rushing towards them at an inhuman speed. He was clad in fur and some type of armor. His hair was up in a ponytail and his blue eyes glared menacingly at Bankotsu. _'Wait, this is the bastard who killed Kyokotsu!' _

"Bankotsu, please don't start anything. You're too injured to fight anyhow. I bet you can't even swing Banryuu without it hurting." Kagome muttered under her breath before the wolf reached them and pulled Kagome into his embrace.

Kagome finally convinced Kouga she was okay, he let go of her and placed her behind him.

"Who are you and what are you doing with my mate?" Kouga demanded menacingly.

_'Well, I won't start anything because I owe her at least that. She saved my life after all, but I bet I could get him to start it first.'_ The mercenary gave a convincing glare and responded coldly, "Your mate? I don't think so. She's my fiancée, so I would appreciate you giving her back to me."

At this point Kagome's eyes had gone wide. _'What the hell does he think he's doing?'_ the priestess raged in her mind, unable to form words.

"I'm… leaving now." Kagome finally managed to say, before walking out of the clearing.

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_'She…she didn't deny it.'_ The wolf leader thought with astonishment and defeat. He looked up at the black haired teen, _'Kagome's fiancée,'_ he reminded himself, and solemnly said, "Take care of her, and please don't hurt her like the mutt has." He then left in search of his two followers.

_'That didn't work as planned.'_ Bankotsu thought with frustration as he turned to follow Kagome's path back to the village.

"Bankotsu, I thought I smelled you!" the young man heard the familiar masculine voice of his enemy. He smiled, _'Maybe this wasn't such a waste after all.'_

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Back at the hut, Kagome was wondering where Bankotsu was. She was about to go look for him, but when she went to leave the hut she ran into a wall, _'er…chest?'_ She looked up into the eyes of Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, when did you get here?" Kagome exclaimed with surprise showing on her features.

"Heh, I thought you'd be a little happier to see me Kagome." The Inu Hanyou smiled warmly and hugged the girl in from of him.

"We simply stopped by because people were wondering how you are faring. We are leaving as soon as everyone gets to see you." Kikyou said informatively behind Inuyasha.

Kagome nodded her understanding and went to go see her friends.

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"Shippou, I want you to go with them this time. I'll be back real soon okay?" the young living priestess said softly to her kitsune pup.

He was about to argue, but he didn't because he could see how tired she was. He simply agreed with her request, hugged her, and jumped into Miroku's arms.

"You're lucky we came when we did Kagome. That mercenary was in the clearing near here when we arrived. I fought him, looks like he's dead. You're safe now." Inuyasha yelled as he walked away.

Panic ripped through Kagome's body. _'I shouldn't care. It's good, no difficulties now.'_ As much as she tried to convince herself, it wasn't working. She waited until the Inutachi was out of sight and then she fell to the ground crying.

_'Maybe I can still save him.'_ Kagome thought frantically as she ran to the exact same clearing she found him in earlier that day. _'Please God let him be okay! He isn't that bad of a guy. A little annoying at times, but everyone is now and then.'_ She shouldn't care. She really shouldn't, but it didn't stop her. Once she got to know someone, she would do everything in her power to make sure they stayed alive.

The priestess arrived in the clearing and fell down into the blood of the dying mercenary. She was desperately trying to wake him up; hoping he was just playing a sick joke on her. _'He's not going to wake up.'_

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Blood. He smelt a lot of blood and tears. He contemplated whether to investigate or to leave whoever it was to their devices. _'Inuyasha's priestess…'_ the silver haired taiyoukai noted the scent in the air. Why he was always so interested in what she did he would never know, but he gave in and walked in the direction he knew she was. As he walked closer he felt tenseiga pulse at his waist. _'Is she…? No, she is the one crying. Then who…?'_

The taiyoukai arrived at the clearing to see Kagome weeping into the chest of a very dead body. The teen had black hair and a four pointed lavender star on his forehead. He didn't know of the boy's eye color because the boy's eyes were closed.

"Move girl." the taiyoukai ordered emotionlessly.

"S-Sesshoum-maru…" Kagome stammered out and fell backwards.

For whatever reason, Tenseiga decided that this man was worth saving, even as his flesh was slowly melting and becoming nothing but bone. He wasn't one to deny his sword what it wanted, however much he despised his birthright. Sesshoumaru gracefully unsheathed his sword and killed the demons surrounding the teen in one motion. Afterwards, he walked away without a word.

"K-Kagome," Bankotsu rasped out after he revived.

"Yeah?" She had forgotten her sorrow from earlier in her relief that he was alive.

"You kind of look like a whore in those strange clothes." The mercenary bluntly told her.

In the village, everyone could here the slap and yell of pain.

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Before anyone asks, the reason she didn't notice he had shards in his neck is because she was too worried about him to notice. Now she doesn't notice because they aren't there. Kikyou took them out and purified them. Sesshoumaru saved his ass just in time. Yes, this means Bankotsu is actually alive now. XD

Her distress was because she kind of liked having him around and she realized he wasn't too bad if you weren't in a battle with him. Loss of any and all life she mourns. Well, all but Naraku anyways. (Don't get me wrong, I support NaraKag, but I can say now that I couldn't use this situation to get them together.)

Love is far from happening, but there's somewhat of a tentative friendship forming. Anyways, read and review please.


	3. Reverse This Curse

Tempest 78: Not necessarily new, just finally decided to post a story about them. SessKag is usually my specialty. Thank you very much, I'm glad you like the story ^-^

Kagome Lady of Darkness: Thanks! ^-^

Lozenger12: You have to admit, he kind of deserved it lolz and here's the update. Thanks for the review ^-^

J Bear: Glad you liked it

Lady Skorpio: Thank you, these two are two of my three favorite personalities to portray so I'm very glad you think I'm doing it correctly

xXBlackxxStarXx: Oh but you know he would have said something along those lines sooner or later. Besides, it was a way to get her to finally where something appropriate for that era full time. I'm glad my story is amusing you ^-^ 

iluvzuko1: You have no idea how happy that makes me, I'm so glad you like it to the point of love ^-^

The Jackal: Feel free to ramble, I love reading it to be honest. I'm glad you think so highly of the story and my portrayal of Bankotsu. I appreciate your review ^-^

Ara0627: Thanks for the feedback, and don't worry; I fully intend on continuing the story.

"_To die is to live in her head."_

_~Escape the Fate~_

Reverse This Curse

_**In the village, everyone could here the slap and yell of pain.**_

"What the hell was that for wench?" the mercenary cried out in protest to her abuse.

Kagome gave him a cold glare and, without a word, stalked away. God did she find that guy annoying. Why was she glad he was alive again? _'I really shouldn't regret my decisions so much in one day.'_ The priestess chastised herself. She had saved him, against her better judgment, and now he was her responsibility. Oh joy.

A breeze blew its way past the raven haired teen, shifting her bloodied hair in front of her face for a few moments. _'Great, I need to change my clothes again. Probably for good this time.'_ The priestess sighed in defeat realizing her school uniform was officially ruined because of Bankotsu's blood. _'Stupid Inuyasha.'_ Kagome gasped at her thoughts. She couldn't believe that was the first thing that came to mind. _'He was just trying to protect me.'_ The young woman reminded herself in an attempt to erase her earlier feelings. It wasn't working too well.

"If it makes you feel any better, you won't look like a whore once you change back into the Kimono you were in earlier." Kagome heard the voice of the mercenary leader from behind her. She continued walking without acknowledging him, deciding that was the best course of action.

Bankotsu's thoughts had already wandered to other things, so her silent treatment was wasted. _'I don't feel any power from jewel shards anymore, and I could have sworn that damn dog had actually killed me. Why am I still alive?'_ Looking ahead of him and letting his gaze rest upon the strange priestess just ahead of him, he had a good idea as to why.

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Inuyasha looked up from his dinner when he smelt Kouga's scent headed in his direction. _'What could that stupid wolf want now?'_ the Inu Hanyou sighed. He then stood, awaiting the arrival of his long time rival, admittedly not much of a rival though. Inuyasha was pretty confident he would always have Kagome. He wasn't stupid; he knew Kikyou was probably supposed to stay dead. Knowing that, he allowed himself some affection towards the young priestess he normally traveled with. He couldn't let himself fall too much for her while Kikyou, undead or not, was still in this world; it would feel too much like a betrayal.

"You are an idiot Inuyasha, even more of an idiot than I thought you were!" the wolf leader bit out right as he stopped in front of the Hanyou.

Sango couldn't help herself and started laughing before replying for Inuyasha, "What brought you to that conclusion Kouga?"

Without further ado, Kouga proceeded to tell the Inutachi about Kagome's "fiancée." When he was done, finishing with, "And she didn't even deny it," Inuyasha was a little pissed off. He knew he didn't really have a right to be, but he saw her first damn it! She was rightfully his!

Shippou was in a bit of a panic. On one hand, he wanted to encourage the Hanyou to turn back and confront his mother because he wanted to be with her again, but a larger part of him was coming up with a lie so his mom wouldn't get in trouble. It was just a good thing Inuyasha wasn't a full fledged demon otherwise he would be able to smell the deception rolling of the kitsune pup in waves.

Shippou waited until Kouga had departed before he finally gathered enough courage to walk up to the Inu Hanyou and say, "I know the guy who claimed to be mom's fiancée. He's a villager. He only did it as a favor to her so that Kouga would leave her alone."

_'Oh please let him believe me and leave mamma alone. He would be so mad if he ever found out she had that mercenary with her; even if he did kill him already.'_ The young kitsune thought with worry and hopefulness.

"I knew Kagome wouldn't betray me like that. There was no need to explain that to me Shippou." Inuyasha said arrogantly, though in his mind he was sighing with relief that Kagome didn't actually have a fiancée. _'Please wait a little longer Kagome. Once we defeat Naraku, I promise that you will be my one and only.'_

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_'I'm so bored. I miss Bankotsu.'_ A man with purple markings on his cheeks, brunette hair up in a bun held by a pair of chopsticks, red lips, and deep brown eyes complained to himself as he walked down a dirt path barefoot. He certainly did miss his youngest brother. Looking into the distance, he could see a village. _'I may as well stay there for the night.'_ The man decided with a sigh. It was on the same path he was traveling so it only made sense. _'Still, I don't like the thought of holding up my search for Bankotsu.'_

The eighteen year old looked around to take in his surroundings. Despite his current problem, he couldn't help but admire the beauty of this season. The Sakura trees were his favorite, though he didn't enjoy the ones with pink petals as much as the ones with white petals. The brunette had never known why; the white petals just called out to him. _'Enough, I need to get to the village before night falls completely.'_

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"Do you need help with dinner Tsuyomi? Bankotsu and I would be more than willing to help." Kagome asked as she, and said mercenary, walked into the hut.

The young priestess risked a glance behind her and saw that Bankotsu was glaring at her for volunteering him without his consent. She swiftly stuck her tongue out at him and turned around to smile sweetly at the elderly priestess as if she hadn't just acted childishly. Tsuyomi simply shook her head no and then ordered Bankotsu to rest before dinner.

"After dinner you may take a bath in the hot springs a few yards away in the forest." The elderly priestess informed the both of them.

"Not at the same time though, right?" Kagome asked, face the color of ripened strawberries.

The elderly priestess just nodded her head and then gave the younger woman a stern look before replying, "You are his care giver. It is not uncommon to bathe with the ones you are caring for. You may bring an extra towel to cover yourself while in the springs though; if you wish."

Kagome nodded her thanks and understanding before lying down next to the mercenary, whom had actually done as he was told for a change; and deciding to take a small nap of her own. She may not have enjoyed his attitude, but sleeping near a familiar body was more comfortable to her than sleeping near a complete stranger or even just by herself. Years of sleeping at Inns or in the woods with the Inutachi had grown her accustom to having comrades with her as she slept. She missed Shippou, though that was her own fault. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to have him leave, something inside her just screamed to make him stay with the group. She had learned to follow those instincts.

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The young brunette arrived at the village just before the sun set. Villagers, who noticed his arrival, were cautiously making their way towards him. Finally a young woman with turquoise eyes and light brown hair approached the traveler and offered to take him in for the night. The brunette warily agreed, eyeing the woman with distrust, and followed her to her hut.

"Tell me, what is your name, warrior?" the girl asked him in a friendly manner.

_'She thinks I'm a warrior? Oh well, May as well go with it.'_ The eighteen year old thought before answering, "Jakotsu." That was it, no formality or manners of any kind towards the woman. Him not killing her on spot was manners enough for him.

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"Children, the stew is ready to be eaten; you may get up now." The elderly priestess informed kindly.

Groaning, Bankotsu got up and froze when he looked down and realized why he was so warm. He had Kagome wrapped in his embrace. There wasn't even a way to pin this on her because his arms were around her; not vice versa. All she had done was lay next to him. _'What do I do now?'_ the mercenary wondered to himself and then panicked and dropped her when he noticed her eyes slowly opening.

"Ouch, what was that about Bankotsu? I have done nothing to warrant such an attack!" Kagome demanded; her voice full of anger and pain.

Bankotsu averted his eyes and replied innocently, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Before any more arguments could be made, Tsuyomi handed the pair a bowl of stew and told them to eat.

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"Woman, I require a place to bathe." Jakotsu demanded after eating the rice balls the young woman had made for him.

"My name is Shiori, and there is a hot spring a few yards away; in the forest." The girl, Shiori, told the "warrior."

Jakotsu nodded and stood to leave, but Shiori stopped him and told him that she would show him how to get there. _'I don't trust her. I probably should, but I just have a bad feeling about this.'_ Even with his suspicions, he allowed the woman to lead the way.

After fifteen minutes of walking through foliage and over roots sticking out of the ground, the two came across the hot spring. The woman turned as if to leave, so Jakotsu quickly undressed, took his hair down, and stepped into the spring. The teen heard water moving to his left, and looked just in time to see Shiori slip into the "bath" as well.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jakotsu snapped in anger as the woman moved closer to his person.

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Bankotsu and Kagome had finished eating and stood up to go bathe. Getting directions from Tsuyomi, so as not to get lost since they were headed to a different bathing area than the one Kagome had been frequenting during her stay here, they made their way to the hot spring. Ten minutes of walking, and Kagome stepped through the trees to see a steam rising from the hot water, and an unnamed man with long brunette hair and brown eyes trying to get away from a naked and busty young woman with turquoise eyes and light brown hair.

As if sensing her presence, the brunette looked up and caught her eye. Kagome blushed and stammered, "I'm s-sorry; I'll ju-ust l-leave now."

"Wait, please stay and rescue me!" Jakotsu called out uncharacteristically; too freaked out to even be ashamed that he needed rescued from a girl by yet another girl.

_'She's a girl, but I have a feeling she can do something about this.' _the brunette man thought before running up to hide behind her.

"Shit Kagome, who's the naked guy?" a familiar voice was heard saying.

_'Could it really be-'_Jakotsu's thoughts were cut off, and his suspicions confirmed when he heard the raven locked girl in front of him reply, "Oh be quiet Bankotsu. How would I know who he is?"

"Brother!" the brunette cried as he turned around and hugged Bankotsu.

"Jakotsu is that really you?" the mercenary leader asked with disbelief; staring down at the older man in his embrace.

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"Alright so let me get this straight; you two were separated from each other and everyone else?" Kagome questioned both mercenaries after they had gotten the girl Jakotsu was being harassed by out of the springs and away from him.

"Yeah, and I'm getting cold so can we continue this conversation in the Hot Springs?" the eighteen year old, whom was still very much naked, questioned lightly.

The young priestess had to think it over. She was barely even used to the _idea_ of bathing with Bankotsu let alone this guy she had just met. After a few minutes of silent deliberation on her part, she nodded. Jakotsu slipped into the water while she peeled off her bloody clothing. Getting clean was her main goal; she no longer cared that she would be with two males who would be just as nude as she. She needed to wash the dried blood and dirt that had caked onto her body. The worst of it was smeared on her cheeks though because her tears helped to keep the dirt in place, though it was the least bloody part of her.

At last she had finished undressing and joined the two males in bathing after digging through her bag and grabbing vanilla sugar scented shampoo and conditioner along with body wash that claimed to be the scent of the ocean breeze. Bankotsu had taken less time to undress and get into the water; he only had a pair of pants on after all.

During the bath, Kagome noticed something shining in Jakotsu's neck. _'Jewel Shard… and I think it's keeping him alive.'_ Kagome thought, once she realized what it was. She knew it was her duty to collect all the shards, but this man hadn't done anything to harm or even threaten her. _'Well, we haven't taken the shards from Kouga or Kohaku yet, so I guess I'll just pretend I didn't notice.'_ the young priestess decided.

"What is that stuff that you're using on your hair? It smells good." Jakotsu suddenly questioned, snapping Kagome out of her thoughts.

"Oh, this one is shampoo, it cleans your hair and makes it smell good." She explained with a soft smile, and then continued explaining what the conditioner did.

"Can I use some, please?" the mercenary asked politely. He normally hated being polite to women, but this particular one had just rescued him.

Kagome nodded her head, granting him permission to use her strange hair cleaner. In all honesty, Jakotsu was glad; he hadn't had a good cleaning in awhile. After watching her, he followed her movements so that he could properly use the shampoo. It smelt wonderful. He couldn't quite place what it was, but he liked it.

"Come here Bankotsu, I'll do it for you. Since you have longer hair it will be hard for you to do it yourself." The priestess called the mercenary leader over to her.

"I don't need your help." Bankotsu scoffed, but he slumped over in defeat once the young woman reminded him that she was his care giver. _'Damn girl, using my words against me.'_

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"Oh my, you seem to have gathered another person on your way back from the Hot Springs." Tsuyomi chuckled as Kagome entered the hut; followed by Bankotsu and Jakotsu.

"Yeah, he was bathing when we got there, and he really didn't feel like going back to the hut he was staying in before. The woman practically molested the poor guy." Kagome explained with a small laugh.

Jakotsu, after hearing this, pouted indignantly and said, "It wasn't funny."

The young priestess patted his head and laughed, "Of course it wasn't Jakotsu."

The mercenary stuck his tongue out at her in response, sensing her sarcasm, and then sat in a corner; sulking and muttering about how cruel Kagome was being to him. Bankotsu couldn't help but smirk in amusement at his brother's antics. In truth, Bankotsu was glad to see Jakotsu hadn't changed even the slightest since last they had seen each other. _'Well, that's not completely true. Normally he wouldn't have befriended a girl this easily.'_ The mercenary leader thought, but then supposed that it was pretty hard to find things to dislike about her. Her temper was irritating at times, but he supposed he couldn't blame her; especially since a lot of the time he angered her on purpose.

"Have you eaten dinner yet Jakotsu?" Kagome questioned lightly after kneeling down beside the still moping mercenary.

Bankotsu had been startled from his thoughts when he caught the sound of her voice. Deciding that this would be interesting to watch, he leaned against the wall and kept his gaze over in the corner; he just knew Jakotsu was going to be difficult. The eighteen year old was in one those moods.

"Oh come on Jakotsu, don't do this. I was just teasing you; I know what happened earlier wasn't funny to you in the slightest." Kagome tried again to get the mercenary talking.

With a sigh of defeat, Jakotsu gave up and answered with a nod.

"The woman was good for something at least," The elderly priestess commented and then continued, "I am sorry for that happening to you young man."

"It's alright. It wasn't your fault, besides Kagome saved me from that evil woman." Jakotsu replied with a smile and a far away dreamy look in his eyes, and then continued with a pout, "Even if Kagome can be cruel."

Bankotsu started laughing after seeing that. It was just too funny and he couldn't resist. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that his brother was infatuated with the girl. The young priestess, observing the two males, just rolled her eyes; however she did have a small smile plastered on her face.

"You have a crush on Kagome, don't you Jakotsu?" the mercenary leader taunted. Though he knew it wasn't true, he couldn't help the teasing. It had been too long since seeing him last.

Aforementioned mercenary blushed and stammered, "O-of course n-not Bankotsu you pervert; y-you sh-should know b-better than that!"

_'Shit, what if he does?'_ Bankotsu was at a loss for words at his brother's reaction to his teasing. Normally Jakotsu would just get angry, stick his tongue out, and glare; he would never react in this way.

"Would you stop being mean to your brother Bankotsu? Honestly, you two need to get along." Kagome sighed and dramatically fell onto the futon Bankotsu had been occupying earlier in the day.

"You three should get some sleep." Tsuyomi advised from a different side of the hut.

"Right, sleeping arrangements." The young priestess realized.

They moved the futon against a wall. Jakotsu called being against the wall. He refused to give it up, and then he complained until Kagome was sleeping next to him, claiming that she was warmest. When all was said and done, Jakotsu was against the wall like he wanted and Kagome was in the middle. _'How is it that this is more awkward than bathing with them?'_ the young priestess questioned herself, but before drifting off to sleep she corrected her earlier thought by adding, _'yet still comfortable somehow.'_

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Far away, in a castle surrounded by a dark purple miasma, Kagome's day had been watched by the crimson eyes of a very dark and evil Hanyou. He smirked as he watched the three go to bed. _'Let's see how this unfolds shall we?'_ He always loved it when drama unfolded, and if it didn't happen on its own soon; he would put it into action. _'I wonder how Inuyasha would react if he were to learn of who his priestess has been devoting her time to.'_ Oh, and the Inu Hanyou would find out one way or another; our evil Hanyou would make sure of that.

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Okay, so this chapter was shorter than most, though I don't know if you noticed that until I pointed it out. I am so glad you all like the story. I have read all of your reviews and, trust me, they motivated me to finish. I had slight writers block, but thanks to your encouragement and love (maybe love was a little too strong but I'm overdramatic right now) I have forced past that awful writers block. I really do appreciate all of your feedback. Oh, and I admit I put a bit of JakoKag in there because I think it's cute. Remember, Jakotsu hasn't met Inuyasha yet so he can't feel resentment towards Kagome and by the time he meets Inuyasha, he will be way too good of friends with Kagome to resent her.


	4. Somebody Told Me

Kagome Lady of Darkness: Thank you very much ^-^

Nosuka chan: I'm so sorry for not being sooner. I wasn't aware anyone was actually waiting for this story in particular. I'm glad you liked it and I will try not to be as tardy next time.

Ara0627: I'm glad you enjoyed the JakoKag. I wasn't sure how people would react to it, but at least I expect his behavior towards her somewhat. I'm very happy you're enjoying the story, and I promise I will keep with this story to the end.

Tempest 78: Interesting is a better response then complete dislike, and I'm glad you think about the plot enough to realize it won't turn into a romantic thing. We were all new to SessKag at one point, but you grow to love it. Thank you, I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter.

Full Moon Howl: Thank you so very mush! I'm glad you like it ^-^

Anak-Kage-Kagura-Kage: It will only be a slight love triangle because we don't want an OOC Jakotsu after all. This story is all about getting Bankotsu and Kagome together while keeping all the characters in character. I'm pleased you like the story, and thanks for your review

Silver-blackwings: I'm glad you think my story rocks, and here is the new chapter.

Tinabug: I'm lad you like it and here's the update

Animelovr: No worries, I'm still writing it, and I'm glad you like the pairing

Awerin: I'm glad that you like it and here is your update

Crimson-Midnight-Moon: I'm sorry that the update took so long, but here it is. I hope it doesn't disappoint you.

Princess Happy: Thank you and I'm updating as fast as all the ideas come.

Hi: I will definitely keep going, it's just taken me awhile to update recently. I keep misplacing my muse :/ But, I will finish the story even if it takes awhile

Joyousmia: I'm still writing it, I promise, just at a slower pace than I, or I'm betting you, would like. And I'm glad you appreciated my JakoKag – not a lot og people agree with me on that pairing.

"_Somebody told me that you had a boyfriend that looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year."_

_~The Killers~_

Somebody Told Me

**Oh, and the Inu Hanyou would find out one way or another; our evil Hanyou would make sure of that.**

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The next morning the young priestess found herself in a compromising position. Well, compromising in _her_ opinion anyways. What else was she supposed to call being on top of a mercenary leader whose grip was securely around her waist? Compromising was the only word that came to mind right away.

Kagome attempted to move away, but Bankotsu's grip just tightened further. Sighing in defeat she decided to resort to waking Jakotsu up and asking him to help her. _'Now the only question is; how I move enough to be able to wake him, but not wake up Bankotsu…'_ thought the priestess in exasperation.

Luck seemed to be on Kagome's side though because not five seconds after her thoughts, Jakotsu stirred and woke up by himself. Seeing her chance, Kagome urgently whispered his name. Startled he turned, blade in hand, before relaxing upon registering it was no one but Kagome.

"Jakotsu, could you possibly get me out of my predicament?" the young priestess asked softly.

After looking over her position, he frowned disapprovingly at Bankotsu's sleeping form and nodded his consent in Kagome's direction. Without waiting any longer, Jakotsu yelled, "Little brother, get your ass up! You can't hog Kagome like that!"

Bankotsu groaned and rolled over, Kagome still in his grasp, so when he finally opened his eyes; he was on top of the, now bright red, priestess. Slowly moving off of her, the mercenary leader tried hard to suppress a blush before whispering, "Sorry…"

"Yeah, you better be sorry buddy! Do you have no manners? When you grope a woman, whether you're sleeping or not, it's considered inappropriate behavior!" Kagome yelled, trying to cover her embarrassment with anger.

"No, groping women is fine brother, you just can't grope Kagome; she is a priestess after all, and she isn't _just_ yours." Jakotsu added, trying to be helpful.

At his elder brother's comment Bankotsu threw his head back and laughed. He couldn't help himself; it was just too funny.

"What, pray tell, is so funny; huh mercenary?" the priestess uttered with a dangerous glint in her eye.

"You look nothing like a priestess. I know you are, but that doesn't change the fact that you don't really look, or even _act_ like, one." The mercenary leader snorted out.

"I know… here," Kagome started digging into her yellow backpack for something and pulled out a bunch of bandages and herbs, "Take these, you'll need them."

"What are you talking about girl?" Bankotsu questioned.

"You two are leaving today, aren't you?" Kagome replied to Bankotsu's question with one of her own.

"How did you know that?" the mercenary leader demanded in suspicion.

Kagome laughed, somewhat bitterly and replied, "Just because a person appears to be asleep doesn't mean they really are."

"We were going to take you with us Kagome; both of us owe you something. Little brother owes you his life and I owe you my virtue." Jakotsu suddenly spoke up.

A tear slid from Kagome's eye and she gave a genuine smile. Without a word she stood and silently started making breakfast. _'Why would us leaving bother her so much? You'd figure she would be glad to get rid of us. All we would end up doing is causing her problems.'_ Bankotsu thought, truly confused.

Suddenly the other mercenary's words registered to him. They were taking them with her… damn it all to hell!

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The Inutachi had been walking for a few hours already and had yet to pick up on any leads. That is, until Kikyou felt the presence of a Jewel Shard nearby. She told Inuyasha where it was coming from and he took off in that direction.

The Inu Hanyou came upon a being, which he assumed was the one that possessed the fragment of the Shikon, further up the path. The being was rather short and stout with a white cloth covering his face and top part of his head. He had on a white outfit to match and was carrying something with a cylindrical shape on his back.

Automatically Inuyasha got into his attacking stance and barked out, "Hand over your jewel shard!"

The fatter man laughed as he got into the thing on his back and started mixing what appeared to be herbs together. _'What the hell is he doing? Is he planning on just sitting there and not fighting me? Well, makes things that much easier for me I gues_s,' The Inu thought with a mix of confusion and satisfaction.

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"Kagura," an Evil Hanyou called out to one of his incarnations.

"Yes, Master Naraku?" the wind demoness he called asked; glaring at him with resentful red eyes.

"I would like you to lead Inuyasha right towards where Bankotsu and Jakotsu take Kagome. Let's see how this plays out." Naraku ordered his subordinate with a malicious smile.

"Yes, Master Naraku." The demoness answered obediently, but with a hint of hatred, and then disappeared to do her creator's bidding.

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"So, where are we headed?" the young priestess asked Bankotsu in a cheerful voice after the trio had left the little village they had been at.

The mercenary leader sighed, irritated with her cheerful morning attitude, and answered, "We are going to find your companions so you can rejoin them."

Kagome agreed that that was probably the best idea because she had an obligation and duty to fulfill. She had been the one to shatter the jewel into the fragments that it was presently in; the least she could do was help collect them all, however many there were. Besides, it wasn't like she had grown all that attached to traveling with the two mercenaries. Remembering that the two she was with at the moment were cold blooded killers helped the situation a lot.

_'Still, traveling with familiar faces, no matter how opposite from my morals they are, is better than being by myself on the search for my friends.'_ Kagome thought, and then felt guilty for even feeling that way towards an enemy. Jakotsu may not have done anything to her group or her, but he was part of Bankotsu's Band of Seven which meant that he was out to kill them as well. Eyes widening, an idea came to her, _'What if they are just taking me so that they can kill me without any witnesses?'_

It would make sense because, after all, what type of a mercenary actually thought that they owed _anything_ to _anyone_? Wanting to kill her without much commotion would be a more suitable motive. But now she had to think of a way to escape without letting on that she knew of their plot.

While the priestess was worrying over that, much different thoughts were running through the heads of our two mercenaries. _'I don't understand why Jakotsu wanted us to bring her. It makes no sense, what is so special about this woman that even my brother is ok with her?'_ Bankotsu thought with a silent sigh. It really made no sense to him; Jakotsu hated all women, except apparently Kagome. _'She better be able to protect herself better than it looked like she could in our last battle.'_

Jakotsu was just happy that the mercenary leader agreed to take the priestess along with them. She seemed to be nice and he didn't get a creepy feeling around her. That was the real reason he avoided most women, that creepy feeling he got from them. She was the first one who hadn't made him feel weird being around her, so he had decided that he should at least _try_ to get to understand the opposite sex better.

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The battle was quick, and ended before the rest of the group were even able to reach Inuyasha. As it turned out, the man's name was Mukotsu and he was a Poison master. Unfortunately for him, his poison had no effect on the Inu because of his demon heritage. Mukotsu found that out the hard way.

When the rest of the Inutachi arrived, Inuyasha had Kikyou grab the Jewel Shard that had been embedded in Mukotsu's neck; when she did they all watched as his flesh evaporated, his bones turned into ash, and then the ash blew away in the wind.

The undead priestess then handed the jewel shard to Inuyasha, but, unbeknownst to him, the shard was still emanating a malevolent black aura.

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_'That scent of graveyard soil again...'_ thought the western demon lord as he was patrolling his lands. His mind briefly flashed to the image of his half brother's priestess crying over the slowly decaying body of whoever that was she was with. That man she had been mourning, his body had held the scent Sesshoumaru was detecting now. The dog demon took off to investigate, ignoring the screeched questions of his retainer, Jaken.

The scent was getting closer; meaning that he was moving towards Sesshoumaru. Then two other scents hit the demon lord. One was the scent of his Hanyou brother's woman, laced with palpable fear. The second was unrecognizable. Sesshoumaru wasn't sure why, but the fear in Kagome's scent almost sent him over the edge into his rage.

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"There's a demon headed towards us, and he's a powerful one." Bankotsu broke the silence the group had settled into with a smirk. _'This'll be fun.'_

As Kagome stretched out her senses she recognized Sesshoumaru's aura. She kept her mouth shut though, because if he killed the two then that meant they couldn't go through with killing her, right? _'Who's to say that Sesshoumaru won't kill me himself?'_ the priestess thought bitterly. She was screwed either way.

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I know this one is much shorter than normal but I have been drawing a blank lately so I thought I owe you guys at least as much as I've had written down; thanks to all the reviewers, those who favorited the story, those who followed the story, and those of you that did the same for me as well. Yes there is a bit of JakoKag, as was mentioned by a couple people. I also put a slight SessKag twist in there because I just can't help myself with that one. I hope it doesn't bother anybody. I promise I'll finish this story; it's just going to take some time


	5. I Just Wanna Run

Tempest78: No problem, and thank you. Actually, to be honest I have started re watching the anime from the beginning. Anywhoo, as I said, thank you for your suggestions. ^~^

Crimson-Midnight-Moon: That's very nice of you to say. I'm glad you liked it and the extra hint towards other pairings isn't throwing you off.

Guest: You telling me that actually made me ridiculously happy, thank you ^~^ and Sesshoumaru has a thing for her, but doesn't realize it yet

Guest: I agree with your view of Bankotsu ^~^ and I believe that if InuKag were the"perfect" couple, he wouldn't keep running off to Kikyou. That's my main issue with Kagome getting together with Inuyasha

Trainheartnet13: Thank you very much ^~^ I'm glad you like it so far

BanKag4Lyfe: I'm happy that you like it, and glad that I was able to make it come across as realistic

Maniac T. Magee: Yes I plan to continue, though I can't promise that the updates will be quick

Emobunnygirl (both reviews): I'm very sorry for leaving you hanging like this for so long. I've been busy and had no inspiration until recently. Thank you for the reviews though, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

Ara0627: Chapter 5 is right here my lovely lolz

Guest: I hope you enjoy the drama as much as i enjoy writing it. JakoKag isn't that popular of a couple, but I love it so I had to add a hint here and there. I hope you like it.

"_I'm feeling like I keep on talking, I'm repeating myself. My words lost all meaning."_

_~The Downtown Fiction~_

I Just Wanna Run

**She was screwed either way.**

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Out from the wall of greenery just a few feet to the right of the trio, came a demon lord with long silver hair, slightly out of its proper place hinting at his rush to reach his destination, and blue irisis surrounded by red tinged sclera. Kagome gave an audible gulp. She knew from experience with Inuyasha what those eyes meant; but even through her fear she couldn't help but wonder what had irked the stoic demon lord to such a point.

Slightly in front and to the left of the young priestess, Bankotsu was smirking; both inwardly and outwardly. That demon looked to be high ranking and would most definitely aid in powering up Banryuu even more once he soaked the halberd in the demon's blood. The young mercenary leader also knew what those eyes meant. The demon was pissed, and that usually meant an easier kill since his foe tended to slip up more when in such a state. He glanced back at Kagome for a brief moment and thought, _'Or they slip up because of the distraction of a female possibly being harmed.'_ Once Bankotsu thought it, the image of that first battle flashed through his head. Kagome, her mouth in mid scream and the attack from _**his**_ halberd aiming right for her. This time, regret was tied to the memory.

"Are you going to answer me, or do I need to just gut you right here?" the young mercenary leader heard an unfamiliar voice ask.

Bankotsu looked up at the new arrival, but stayed silent; smirk still stuck on his face.

Jakotsu, who was on his younger brother's right, was only slightly nervous. He was nervous because his brother had yet to answer the question; it was a good question after all. Jakotsu himself was unable to smell emotions but maybe Bankotsu had the answer to why that demon could smell Kagome's fear. The mercenary didn't know that the priestess was frightened. It kind of bothered him; he really liked her.

"Um, Lord Sesshoumaru... ah..." Kagome was at a loss for words. Sesshoumaru had kinda ruined what little chance she may have had to escape Unscathed. Now, however, the two mercenaries knew that she was afraid. That meant that they probably now knew that she atleast suspected their plot to do away with her. But wait...

"Speak priestess." Sesshoumaru was trying to speak normally but it still came out as a bit of a growl.

The two mercenaries were now staring at her along with a terrifying demon Lord. _'Talk about peer pressure...'_Kagome thought before plowing ahead.

"I'm not really afraid, per se, more worried that we wont be able to find Inuyasha. These two were kind enough to offer to allow me travel with them until we happen upon the group, but I still worry. So, Lord Sesshoumaru, I was wondering if... well, uh..." the priestess trailed off, now unsure of her request. He cared that she was afraid, right? No, he was probably just sating his own curiosity. Still, the worst he could do was say no... or kill her. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and chanced it, "I was wondering if you would be kind enough to help us find the group I travel with?"

With her explanation of things, Sesshoumaru's eyes started fading to normal. However, he was still cautious because he could smell a hint of deceit in the story. She was afraid, not worried. The two scents were very different. He would figure out what caused her fear, with or without her cooperation.

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"Hey Inuyasha?" Shippou said with a questioning lilt to his voice.

"Shippou, I've already told you that we will start the journey to check on Kagome tomorrow. For today I would like to see how many jewel shards we can collect." The hanyou snapped at the kit.

Shippou stayed quiet after that. Inuyasha had been in a foul mood for the past few hours. Everyone else had noticed too. Miroku was exhausted and desperately wanted to rest, but said nothing. Inuyasha was in a bad enough mood that even the Monk didn't think he could deal with it well. Sango noticed the tired Monk and had almost offered to have him ride on Kirara, but the look he gave her clearly said not to. He knew that she worried, but he would deal with the pace until Inuyasha decided to rest. Miroku didn't want to test what even just being offered a ride would do.

_'What has caused such a drastic change in mood? He was just fine before the battle with Mukotsu...'_ the demon slayer wondered with confusion.

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After a few hours of uneventful travel on her enlarged feather hair ornament, Kagura finally cam across the Inutachi, minus a flesh and blood priestess of course. She landed a few yard ahead and waited for the hanyou's usual brash behavior to kick in. She did not have to wait long before Inuyasha arrived, battle ready.

"Kagura, what are you doing here?" the hanyou growled out.

_'Well he seems to be in a more foul mood then usual...'_ the wind demoness thought with a small frown before responding, "I see you've left your pathetic excuse for traveling companions behind again. In such a rush to see me; did you miss me Inuyasha?" Kagura mocked the hanyou with a wide smile.

"Hardly. Are you here to talk to me all day or fight?"

"I just thought you'd be interested in the company that your dear priestess has been traveling with," the demoness saw the look on the Inuyasha's face and smiled even wider as she continued, "and yes, I _**did**_ say traveling."

Inuyasha was conflicted. He believed the wind demoness. He did, but he didnt want to; but he did want to. Something inside of him was so glad that Kagura was giving him the opportunity to catch Kagome doing something bad. _**'Not as innocent as she appears to be. I knew it...'**_ they were his thoughts but they weren't. He knew there was something wrong... _**'Kagome is wrong. She is doing something wrong and I will find out what...'**_ That had to be it, what else could be wrong?

The hanyou looked back up to respond to Kagura, but she had left already. _'It looks like Shippou gets what he wants after all. Time to head back to the village to check on Kagome. __**Misbehaving Kagome...'**_

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There was silence in the forest as the priestess awaited the answer she just knew was coming... but it was so awkward just standing there staring at her bare feet atop the deep brown of the soil she was standing on. She had always hated silence.

"...or not, I mean I was completely out of line asking. You're the Lord of the Western Lands after all and you probably have more important things to do then babysit a lost human..." Kagome's eyes widened as she remembered Rin and berated herself inwardly before quickly adding, "I meant not that babysitting humans isn't important, or, I guess raising? Yeah, raising. You're definitely not just babysitting her... er... nevermind."

Bankotsu was trying really hard not to laugh at the priestess. What happened to the bold woman he met who didnt take shit from any man? She was shrinking to lifesize proportion right before his eyes; and it was amusing.

Jakotsu, for his part, had slowly forgotten Kagome's presence; but to be fair he had forgotten Bankotsu's presence as well. This man that had arrived was absolutely gorgeous and he just had to spill his blood with the snake blade... after he was done admiring the beautiful specimen of course.

After an acceptable time of deliberation, Sesshoumaru responded with a simple nod of his head and then said, "Follow me."

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Far off in a dark mansion surrounded by a purple hazy miasma, an evil hanyou had been watching these events unfold through a mirror held by a void demon with white hair, black eyes, and a plain white Kimono on. Naraku laughed to himself. A seed of distrust had been placed into Inuyasha's heart; and it was all thanks to the unpurified jewel shard. Kikyou was helping to become the demise of the one she loved, and she didnt even know it.

"Oh Kikyou," Naraku said to the mirror that was holding the image of the emotionless priestess, "you are completely unaware that you no longer hold the power to purify shards. Kagome took that part of your soul back awhile ago."

The evil hanyou stepped back from the mirror, effectively dismissing the void demon, Kanna. This little drama was going to cause a lot of pain and suffering; he was just going to sit back and watch it unfold.

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I have no idea how long this is, so I'm sorry if it was short but I have a new computer and it doesnt have word on it. So I have to use this wordpad program. It's ridiculous. Also, any spelling or punctuation mistakes i also apologize for. This thing lets you type whatever you want, it wont even correct you if you accidentally spell something wrong.

Okay, so I finally made chapter 5 for you guys. Funny thing, I got onto fanfiction because i wanted to find some good stories to read, but then i checked my reviews because i hadnt got to read them through my email quite yet. I ended up rereading all the old reviews from the 4th chapter and the new ones. You guys made me super happy, like I couldnt stop smiling, so I thought to myself, 'I've made them wait long enough. Time to get this shit started again.'

So I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was actually pretty fun to write and didnt take too long to come up with ideas for the chapter. So, maybe i'll be able to start on the 6th Chapter


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